Third rail for electric railways



(No Model.)

S. H. SHORT; THIRD RAIL FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

Patented June 7, 1898..

m: scams PEYER$ c0. mow-Ursa WASH NITED STATES SIDNEY Hows suonr, or CLEVELAND, ouio.

THIRD RAIL FOR ELECTRICRAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part. of Letters Patent No. 605,261, dated June '7, 1898. Application filed November 5, 1897. Serial No. 657,511. (No model.)

T at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SIDNE I-IowE SHORT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Third Rail for Electric Railways, of, which the folwhereby the contacting surface of the rail is protected in a measure from rain, snow, sleet, and the like.

Further objects of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter.

The invention consists, substantially, in th construction, combination, location, and arrangement of parts, all as will be more fully hereinafter set forth, as shown in the accompanying drawings, and finally specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a transverse sectional View of the road-bed, parts in the side elevation showing the application of my invention. Fig. 2 is a similar view of a slightly-modified arrangement.

Reference-sign A designates a cross tie or sill of the road-bed, B the traction or service rails, and G the third or contact rail. In the form shown in Fig. 1 this rail comprises an I-beam and is supported upon a short transverse bar D. This bar carries or is formed with inverted cup or bell shaped castings E at the end thereof, adapted to receive therein a suitable insulating material Fsuch, for instance, as rubber, wood, sulfur, or the like. The bar D is supported upon uprights or standards G, suitably mounted on or secured to the cross ties or beams A, and the upper ends of said uprights or standards are received and embedded in the insulatingmaterial contained in the bell or cup shaped short-circuiting the current therefrom to a grounded part of the road-bed or structure by a workman carelessly resting a tool, bar, or other article thereagainst, as well as to protect workmen or other pedestrians walking over or along the road-bed or structure from danger of receiving a shock by coming in contacttwith a live conductor, I provide a cap or covering II of suitable insulating or non-conducting material for the third Irail. This cap or covering II may be in the form of a board or strip resting upon the top surface of the third rail, as clearly shown, with the edges thereof projecting beyond and over the edges of the top surface of the third rail. The sides or surfaces J of the third rail constitute the contact-surface against which operate the shoes or other contact-making devices carried by the car or trucks. From this description it will be seen that not only is the contact-surface of the conducting or third rail measurably protected from rain, sleet, snow, and" the like and the danger of shortcircuiting or of shocking workmen or pedestrians avoided, bu'tan efficient contact between the rail and the shoe or other collector carried by the car is assured by reason of the fact that such shoe or collector operates in the channel or groove formed in the side of the third rail by the flanges and stem of such rail.

In Fig. 2 I have shown a slightly-modified arrangement wherein the third or contact rail 0 is in the form of a channel-bar placed edgewise. In this form of third rail the contactshoe or collector travels against the surface J of the channel-bar, and it will be noted that the same advantages ofan efficient contact are secured in this form as in the form employing an I-beam, as in Fig. 1, for the' reason that the contact-shoe or collector travels in the channel or groove of the beam G in the same manner as it does in the channel or groove formed in the side of the I-beam. In the form shown in Fig. 2 I have also shown a slightly modified arrangement for supporting the conducting-rail, wherein I suitably attach or secure to the back of the rail 0 a hollow casting E, which casting is adapted to be filled with a suitable insulating material F, the same as in the case of bell or cup shaped castingsE of Fig. 2, and the uprights or standards G are arranged to project into the open end of said hollow casting and to be embedded in said insulating material,thereby efficiently supporting and insulating the third rail from the road-bed or structure.

Of course it will be readily understood that the particular location of the third rail relative to the traction or service rails is unimportant and forms no part of the present invention. For instance, the third rail may be located between the service-rails, as shown in full lines, Figs. 1 and 2, or alongside but outside of such rails, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

While my invention is particularly designed for use in connection with elevatedrailway work, it may also be employed generally in electric-railway constructions.

Many changes and modifications inthe spespirit and scope of my invention. desire, therefore, to be limited to the exact details of construction and arrangement shown and described; but,

Having now set forth the object and nature of my invention and a form of apparatus em- 1 bodying the same, what I claim as new and lengthwise upon said rail and extending over the top edges thereof, as and for the purpose set forth. 1

2. In an electric railway the combination with standards,'a bar supported'by but insu- 1 with standards, a bar carrying inverted-cupo shaped castings at the ends thereof, said castcific details of construction and arrangement may readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art and still fall within thef I do not ings adapted to be filled with insulation, said standards arranged to project into said castings and to be embedded in the insulation contained therein, a third'or contact rail supported by said bar, said rail presenting a side surface for contact with the shoe or collector, and a plate of insulation wider than said rail, said plate resting upon the top surface of said rail and extending lengthwise thereof, thereby forming a protecting-cap for said rail, as and for the purpose set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, this 1st day of November, 1897, in the presence of the subscribing witnesses.

Witnesses:

M. A. KENSINGER, JOHN J. BEVER. 

